Loudspeaker enclosure system with signal processor for enhanced perception of low frequency output

Abstract

A loudspeaker system with a transducer and an enclosure with at least one resonant chamber, including a resonant-chamber resonance frequency, at which a displacement characteristic of a vibratile diaphragm of the transducer has a minimum. The loudspeaker system further includes a multi-mode signal processor with a set of signal processes wherein in one example, a variable gain, frequency selective dynamic filter reduces the gain in a high displacement frequency range upon an output in the frequency range exceeding an overload amplitude threshold. The gain reduction is compensated for by complimentary frequency generating signal processes, including at least one of a harmonics generator and a transpositional gain controller, with the signal processor adapted to match the resonant chamber enclosure by substantially maintaining or increasing acoustic output at the resonant chamber resonance and generating harmonics associated with fundamental frequencies in the gain reduced frequency range to maintain a perception of tonal quality and physical bass impact, increasing low frequency capability while minimizing audible overload distortion.

Description

RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]This application, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14 / 276,881 filed May 13, 2014, claims benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61 / 823,356 filed May 14, 2013, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.TECHNICAL FIELD[0002]This invention is in the category of audio loudspeaker systems, more specifically, loudspeaker systems with signal processing for the purpose of enhancing low frequency capability.BACKGROUND AND RELATED ART[0003]In the audio field it has always been desirable for audio systems to be made smaller and lower cost, while at the same time producing the low frequency performance of a larger, higher cost system. This is also a goal in miniature devices, such as cell phones, tablet computers, and small multi-media loudspeakers systems. Similarly, even in larger systems, increased low frequency performance has been desired, such as in the professional, large venue loudspeaker system category, where systems are run at thei...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0019]A loudspeaker system with a signal processor for enhancing low frequency output capability provides a system that can minimize loudspeaker overload distortion at high level, low frequency, audio signals, while maintaining perceived tonal quality and physical bass impact quantity. One example of the loudspeaker system and signal processor comprises a loudspeaker enclosure system, including at least one low frequency transducer with a vibratile diaphragm, wherein the enclosure system includes at least one resonant chamber, the resonant chamber comprised of a bass-reflex resonant chamber or a wave-resonant air column chamber, including at least one resonant chamber resonance tuning frequency (FRC1) creating a first frequency range of reduced diaphragm displacement with the tuning frequency at which the displacement characteristic of the vibratile diaphragm as a function of frequency has a minimum. The enclosure system also has a second frequency range, adjacent to, and above the first frequency range, in which there is a frequency at which the displacement characteristic, as a function of frequency above the resonant chamber resonance frequency FRC1, has a maximum (FMAX1). The loudspeaker system further includes a multi-modal signal processor. At small signal levels a starting, target frequency response may be established, either by loudspeaker enclosure / transducer parameters and / or filter gain equalization. A threshold detector for detecting a primary amplitude threshold is established in the signal processor for sensing an audio signal amplitude threshold in the second frequency range. When the audio input signal exceeds the primary amplitude threshold, a gain filter mode, incorporating a dynamic narrowband filter, reduces the gain in the second frequency range, a harmonics controller, incorporating a dynamic harmonics generator to dynamically generate harmonics in a third frequency range, above FMAX1, and the third frequency range exhibiting a reduced diaphragm displacement as compared to frequency FMAX1.

[0022]When operating above the primary narrowband amplitude threshold the signal processor operates with the dynamic narrowband filter gain and the dynamic harmonics generator gain correspond in an inverse relationship to each other, and as the filter gain in the second frequency band is dynamically reduced to minimize an audible overload distortion, a first frequency range acoustic level is substantially maintained relative to that of an acoustic level of the second frequency range, to more effectively maintain a perceived physical bass impact, and the harmonics gain in the third frequency range is increased to more effectively maintain a perception of a tonal level in the second frequency range.

[0023]The dynamically gain reduced frequencies in the second, displacement sensitive frequency range and the tonal replacement of those frequencies by the dynamic harmonics generator, when used in this manner so aligned with an enclosure with the resonant chamber, allows the system to operate at significantly greater output levels without low frequency overload, while substantially maintaining the perception of tonal and physical impact fidelity.

[0024]In another example of the loudspeaker system with multimode signal processor, the system as described above is further enhanced with inclusion in the signal processor of a transpositional gain controller, incorporating a dynamic transpositional gain controller, whereby when the threshold is exceeded and the dynamic narrowband filter reduces gain the second frequency range, frequencies in the second frequency range may be transposed as additional gain to a frequency in the first, displacement reduced, frequency range, preferably at or near the resonant chamber resonance frequency in the first frequency range, to in a manner corresponding to the gain reduction of the gain reduced frequencies in the second frequency range, further replace or maintain any loss in physical impact caused by the reduction in output from gain reduced frequencies in the second frequency range. The gain of the frequencies transposed by the transpositional gain controller may be balanced in level with the gain the harmonics generated in the third frequency range, such that the generated harmonic and the generated transpositional gain together replace the reduced gain in the second frequency range with optimal tonal fidelity and physical impact fidelity. This multi-modal approach used in this manner in conjunction with a resonant mode, enclosure architecture with an resonant chamber resonance frequency allows the tonal and physical impact replacement of gain-reduced frequencies in the second frequency range to maintain the loudspeaker system fidelity to increased output levels while maintaining fidelity and avoiding overload distortion in a manner emulating a larger, higher output loudspeaker system.

[0025]By having the multi-modal processes of the signal processor being dynamic, such that in some examples of the loudspeaker system with a signal processor for enhancing low frequency output capability, they may remain inactive at small signal levels, and may be activated at large signal levels, the system maintains high fidelity at small or average signal levels without any dynamic processing, and operating with the target frequency response without overload distortion.

Problems solved by technology

These low frequency dynamic equalization systems basically equalize and extend low frequencies to allow a small loudspeaker to reproduce lower bass tones more accurately at small signal levels, but at larger signal levels, the majority of low frequencies are suppressed to avoid overload distortion from the low frequency woofer transducer, which also suppresses low frequency aural bass tonal level, and also, physical bass impact, at these larger signal levels, creating a thin sounding loudspeaker with substantially reduced bass impact, with very poor perceptual bass accuracy at all but very small signal levels.

This system ultimately still suffers from similar limitations of other dynamic equalization processors reduction of physical bass impact and tonal balance quality at large signal levels without a means to correct these shortcomings.

This approach is problematic in that synthetic bass created by distortion has limited independent control.

The requirements for optimal symmetry for compression / clipping and distortion based enhancement of low frequencies can be in conflict without isolated control, limiting the ability to independently allow the creation of an audible perceived bass response faithful to the original program source or desired bass tone increase.

While this can to some degree replace the bass “tones” over a narrow range of frequencies, it does not replace any of the physical bass impact of the bass, and it often applied over too wide of a frequency range to even accurately replace the tonal aspects for all the bass frequencies that are filtered out, resulting in both a total loss of physical bass impact and incomplete, or compromised, tonal quality.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,930,373, “METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR ENHANCING QUALITY OF SOUND SIGNAL”, by Meir Shashoua, et al is based in the same concept of attempting to replace the tonal loss from a loudspeaker system with attenuated low frequency response, but similarly does nothing to compensate for loss of low frequency physical impact and because the artificial bass is used at small signal levels and large signal levels, it can impart an unrealistic coloration to the bass tone at all levels.

Because, in this system, for all bass frequencies there is only one frequency that is being reproduced, the audible output created has an unnatural bass tonal quality for all audio bass frequencies, at all signal levels.

This is another system that creates a significant vacancy of frequencies throughout the bass range, with a perceptual “one note” bass effect, and it fails to recreate a realistic facsimile of a high quality low frequency system, and is relegated to use in low fidelity systems.

A common enclosure design is a sealed, acoustic suspension enclosure which exhibits increased diaphragm displacement throughout the lower frequencies without any resonant chamber based frequency and range of reduced diaphragm displacement, and tend to be a poor performer for low frequency acoustic output relative to diaphragm displacement.

Historically vented box loudspeakers have been known to provide greater output at a vented box tuning frequency, for a given diaphragm displacement, but exhibit significantly greater diaphragm displacement for all frequencies below the tuning frequency and also for a band of frequencies above the tuning frequency, and therefore are limited in the ability to take advantage of the reduced diaphragm displacement at the vented box tuning to produce greater output over the full range of bass frequencies.

Single and multi-tuned bandpass enclosures attempt to improve output capability but still suffer from increased diaphragm displacement above the lowest tuning frequency, thereby limiting total output capability to the weakest, high displacement frequencies which substantially override the gains from the reduced displacement frequencies.

These can provide reduced diaphragm motion at a few narrow frequency ranges, but have other portions of the bass range where the diaphragm motion is significantly greater, and may have even poorer performance than an acoustic suspension system at those high displacement frequencies and cannot support full output bass without overloading except at a few narrow frequencies, and so the maximum level capability of the systems over the full range of low frequencies is substantially limited to the output capability of the highest displacement frequency ranges and the reduced displacements in the narrow ranges cannot fully contribute to maximizing undistorted bass output through the bass frequency range.

Other systems have developed variations on these themes, primarily introducing more efficient processing algorithms and refinements, but none that change the fundamental limitations of these approaches to provide large bass system performance in a small device without significantly compromising perceived sound quality and quantity.

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